Unruly Brewing Co.: Muskegon's first microbrew expected to open in June in downtown market

MUSKEGON, MI – Unruly Brewing Co. is beginning to take shape in the Russell Block Market in downtown Muskegon and owners hope to be open sometime in June.

This is a digitally enhanced photo showing how the interior of the Unruly Brewing Co. in downtown Muskegon should look.Unruly Brewing Co.

Equipment is being installed in the lower level of the historic building undergoing renovation at 360 W. Western Ave., co-owner Jeff Jacobson told the Muskegon Rotary Club. Hopes are for a June opening of the downtown craft-beer microbrewery, but the business will be open for sure by Muskegon Bike Time in July, he said.

“We are making progress and moving along in bringing craft beer to Muskegon,” said Jacobson, a Muskegon business attorney for Parmenter O’Toole. “We think this brewery will be a downtown destination and help bring tourism and many more businesses downtown.”

Plans for Unruly have been sent to federal and state licensing officials and approvals are already being granted, Jacobson said. His partners are local construction contractor Mark Gongalski and Eric Hoffman, a West Michigan steel salesman who will be the brewmaster.

The Unruly tap room will have 75 seats and be able to hold 150 customers.

As weather improves, the brewery will create space for many more in an outside beer garden on west side of the Russell Block Market building. The market space will allow for occasional musical artists to perform in the tap room or on the patio, Jacobson said.

The microbrewery is working on a deal with a local deli to provide sandwiches for sale in the tap room and the owners are seeking a Michigan wine maker to sell its product in in the market. The coffee outlet Drip Drop Drink will also be an initial tenant in the Russell Block Market, where the West Michigan Symphony Orchestra will have its offices, practice facilities and small performance studios in the building’s second level.

Unruly Brewing Co. will have three-and-a-half barrel brewing system, which will allow 100 gallons of beer to be produced in an eight-hour period. Typical craft beers will then be fermented for two weeks before being able to be served, Jacobson said.

The microbrewery will have six standard beers from 1890, a light “pre-prohibition cream ale,” to the darker, heavier Revel Rouser, an Indian pale ale, which Jacobson said is for “hop heads.” Unruly will also have other seasonal specialty beers on tap, including potentially “community” beers from local home brewers who will be given a chance to brew on the company’s equipment, he said.

As a microbrewery, only Unruly products will be sold in the tap room. The brewery will sell its product in half-gallon “growlers” to go along with larger kegs that can be used at parties or sold to local restaurants and pubs.

There are no plans to immediately bottle the Unruly product for outside sales but that could come as the business develops, Jacobson said. The microbrewery also will look to produce hard cider products in the future, he added.

Jacobson welcomes Pigeon Hill Brewing Co. and any other breweries downtown. As a craft beer fan, he said he and his wife will travel to other communities and the more brewery outlets the better.